Roy Hodgson: Wayne Rooney has been fit for days

Roy Hodgson blew David Moyes' cover on Wayne Rooney being fit for the last few days

And he confirmed he will pick England's key striker - even if he is rotting in the reserves at Manchester United.

"He will always be considered for England whilst he is physically fit because he is one of our best players," said Hodgson.

The England boss insisted his star striker had been "physically fit for several days" - casting doubts over why United manager David Moyes overlooked Rooney for the Community Shield against Wigan on Sunday.

Rooney, said to have had first a hamstring problem, then a shoulder injury, put in an energetic and enthusiastic training session with England at their base at St George's Park, Burton, yesterday.

Rooney seemed close to full fitness doing his sprints

And he looks certain to start in the friendly against Scotland at Wembley tomorrow.

"There is no doubt in my mind, from that session, that he is not suffering any physical injury," added Hodgson, who also joked that Rooney had set out to make a point yesterday.

"He knows you guys are there," he added.

The 27-year-old's future at Old Trafford remains up in the air with Chelsea set to make a third bid

"He hasn't had enough of the mass media recently and wanted to get his face on TV!"

The 27-year-old's future at Old Trafford remains up in the air with Chelsea set to make a third bid.

With Moyes appearing to be snubbing Rooney, he could go into key World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine on September 6 and 10 without any regular football under his belt.

Even if United do sell, it seems certain no deal will go through until after the champions face the Blues at Old Trafford on Monday week.

Rooney and Gary Neville have a laugh in training

“There is no doubt in my mind, from that session, that he is not suffering any physical injury”

Roy Hodgson

"If he doesn't play at United, he won't be the first player who will be available and possibly in contention for an England place who is not playing for his club side," said Hodgson.

"In my year-and-a-bit as national team manager I have been faced many times with a situation where players are not always playing in their team. But because they have the qualities, talent and skills we are looking for, they have managed to be selected."

Hodgson was impressed by Rooney's efforts in training, adding: "Wayne's body language was good. You know what an enthusiast he is.

"At least now he is injury-free, but, of course, he isn't match fit. "You can't be match fit if you don't play matches and you don't have a chance to take part in every training session.

There's no hiding away for Roo

"But he has been physically fit for several days now and has trained very hard at Manchester - and he has trained with us.

"If, as I expect, he says, 'I am fine' and trains well tomorrow, then I will have to make that decision about when he plays.

"I don't expect him to have any repercussions from training. I expected him to turn up in good shape."